(This is the 2014 version of the 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010 news articles topics! Once again, I'll be using this topic to post interesting and/or amusing Black Friday-related news articles I happen to find. Feel free to post other news articles you wish to share.)

According to a National Retail Foundation survey, people plan to spend more on holiday gifts this year, an average of $804.42 vs. the $767.27 average actually spent last year. The survey also reveals that more people plan on shopping online and plan on doing more of their holiday shopping online. About 40% of people start their holiday shopping before Halloween, 40% start in November, and 16% start in the first two weeks of December.https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/gi ... day-season

More people in South Korean are shopping on Black Friday even though the Thanksgiving and Black Friday holidays don't exist in their country. Why? It's because they are shopping online at U.S. stores to avoid high markups that local retailers in South Korea charge. The markups are so large that buying items in the United States and having them shipped all the way to South Korea can be cheaper than buying them in their own country.http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2014 ... -shoppers/

Even though the National Retail Federation has predicted a 4.1 percent increase in holiday spending this year, there are major differences when you look at the "haves" and "have-nots". According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, households earning more than $50,000 plan to spend an average of $978. However, households earning less than $50,000 plan to spend only $377. And, many have-nots might not be doing so well this year.http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain ... on-n238536

Stores that lease space in shopping malls have to follow mall rules about store hours. If the mall is open on Thanksgiving, then stores also must open then. If they don't, they get fined by the mall upwards of $200 per hour.http://www.inquisitr.com/1598449/mall-s ... u-to-open/

Here's an amusing idea from a letter to the editor: "Let’s make a deal. You give us our holiday back and, in return, you can have Black Friday a week earlier. Just think: an extra week of Christmas shopping. You can even change it to Green Friday for the extra $$ you will make."http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/1797929-1 ... tra-friday

Some shopping malls that were open all night from Thanksgiving to Black Friday last year are cutting back their hours this year. They are opening earlier on Thanksgiving, but they are closing Thursday night and reopening early on Black Friday morning.http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_2 ... head-black